Small and Medium Enterprises needing industrial space will again be able to apply for rent subsidies this year. 

Businesses employing fewer than 250 people will be eligible to receive a grant or tax credit amounting to up to half the cost of rent for industrial space, Malta Enterprise said.

A cap of €25,000 in yearly government assistance has been doubled to €50,000 for 2023. The three-year limit on the grant has also been doubled.

This means that an SME can benefit from rent subsidies for up to six years, as long as the final three years of the subsidy are given as a tax credit.

Christian Cassar, owner of Ta' Mananni is among the 27 companies receiving the grant. His company produces frozen Gozitan food products and supplies over 80 stores in Malta and Gozo.  

“The scheme helped us to stay afloat during Covid and now with the issues related to the war in Ukraine,” he said at his Mqabba premises. 

“Through the scheme, we are helping up and coming entrepreneurs like Christian,” Enterprise minister Miriam Dalli said.

Malta Enterprise gave a total €600,000 in cash grants and tax credit over the last two years, the minister said.

The rent subsidy scheme was introduced in May 2020, in part to help ease the economic costs and recovery from Covid-19. It has been extended as logistical issues persist. 

The grant looks to alleviate burdens on businesses that need industrial space, including manufacturing, packaging, artisans, mechanics, and those repairing machinery and electrical equipment, Malta Enterprise CEO Kurt Farrugia said. 

The grant has also been extended to those needing temporary storage space. 

“As logistical costs increase, companies are looking to buy in bulk to reduce costs, creating the need for storage,” he said. 

“The extension of this scheme is an example of our willingness to adapt to feedback which we are given by companies, to make schemes make sense for businesses," Farrugia said.